Plano adds $711,337 for Pecan Hollow erosion control work

Plano is spending another $711,337 to keep erosion from chewing into Pecan Hollow Golf Course, pushing the streambank stabilization project to just over $4.05 million and raising the question of what, exactly, taxpayers are being asked to protect: a golf course, critical drainage infrastructure, or both.

City officials approved the extra money after crews found soil and groundwater conditions near holes 6 and 7 were more complicated than planned. The revised work calls for deeper excavation, more foundation material, special shoring support and continuous dewatering, all of it aimed at stabilizing the bank along Rowlett Creek and preventing further collapse.

The added funding came from the Municipal Drainage Community Investment Program, a signal that the project is being treated as part of Plano’s broader stormwater and erosion-management system, not just a course improvement. City leaders have set aside annual money for creek and erosion work since late 2022, as part of a longer-running effort to keep vulnerable banks from failing in neighborhoods and public facilities across the city.

At Pecan Hollow, the stakes are immediate. The east Plano course has long been one of the city’s familiar recreation sites, and the bank work is meant to preserve playability while shielding surrounding infrastructure from damage that could spread beyond the fairways. The streambank near holes 6 and 7 sits in a section where erosion has already proved costly enough to force a more aggressive repair plan.

Plano also renewed its service agreement with Plano Golf Course, the operator that has managed Pecan Hollow since 1994. That keeps day-to-day golf operations in place while the drainage and bank-stabilization work moves ahead, underscoring the city’s attempt to separate routine course management from the larger public works job unfolding around it.

The extra appropriation makes the project a case study in how quickly local capital work can grow once crews reach the ground. What began as erosion control at a recognizable recreational asset now carries a larger public purpose: protecting a golf course, preserving stormwater capacity and defending infrastructure along one of Plano’s more vulnerable creek corridors.